aNYCdb

It’s really hard to make a high protein shake without protein powders. You could try unflavored and see if that’s still gives you issues or try a different form or grade of protein (if you are using whey switch to a whey isolate or soy/pea protein). You could also try a non milk based shake (isopure zero carb)

Don’t worry about it, if you’ve lost 10 pounds on the prop diet you will be fine.

I bought some and it tastes like popcorn. That said it will give you a pretty much identical experience as popcorn (i.e. it tends to fill your pouch). If you are expecting it to be easier on your stomach/digestion than regular popcorn you will be disappointed. That said as long as you are eating 1/2 cup of either you should be fine.

I love these, my only gripe is that I can't find the bacon ranch flavor that they advertise on their website in my actual store.

The only downside to the protein bars compared to shakes is that the shakes tend to be much lower in fat and carbs so they are easier to use to get to your protein goals. The other issue is that protein bars tend to be geared towards density so it can sometimes be TOO easy to eat them and as @jess9395 mentioned they can be a slider towards a candy bar. All things being equal you are probably better off eating a lean meat protein, but when you are in a rush the bars can be helpful. I came across somthing called "meat-snx" which are chicken protein snacks that I've come to enjoy they look like tiny graham crackers and come in a number of flavors for when I'm on the run (and they come in both sweet and savory flavors).

So after the upper GI you were able to get up to 4oz an hour of liquids? That was impressively fast.

I also think that outside of some selected saints here most of us "cheated" to some extent or the other. I'm not sure specifically what your preop diet consists of, but if its a completely liquid diet those are tough. The trick comes down to sticking as closely as you can to the plan and if you are going to cheat cheat in a way that doesn't hurt the purpose of the preop diet, namely to get you into ketosis so that your liver shrinks. If you have to cheat, cheat with chicken (protein) not with sugar.

Anyone who says that is a liar or a fool (or some combination of the two).

If for some reason you have an issue, most insurance companies will also accept a signed form from either your surgeon or PCP in lieu of a class. Depending on the schedule this may at least cut the number of classes you need to do if you are forced to.

Wow, did that mean you had to stay 2 nights? I can't even imagine that. The 18 hours I spent in the hospital were the some of the most miserable in my life.

Honestly I've been using the premixed variety that come in the pouch, because its less mess and I don't have to worry about making them ahead (or needing a can opener). Here are some Starkist Varieties

When in doubt... drink a protein shake.

If you are doing the right things the weight loss will continue. You can always help it along a bit with a good exercise routine (even if that's just walking), but the reality is if you are operating at a caloric deficit the pounds are going to come off.

The will to start drinking as soon as you wake up so you can get the hell out of the hospital as soon as possible.

Co-morbidities only really matter for insurance purposes if your BMI is under 40, so you don't really have to worry about having other diagnoses. That said if you haven't had labs recently they may uncover other things that aren't readily known (high cholesterol, diabetes, liver test may indicate further testing for Non-alcholic fatty liver disease). It's hard to know how long you have to wait for surgery, without knowing are if there are other things you need to complete (some people have to do 3-7 months of "classes" which are usually what makes the process longer. If you don't have to do that and don't need any other testing (like a sleep study) I would assume it all comes down to the doctors schedualing which tends to be 2 weeks to 8 weeks from when you have completed everything else. Congratulations on Getting this far in the process.

Every insurance company is different, but most definitely do not go by your initial weight. They generally approve you to begin the process based on your initial weight (which mean approving referals for nutrition, psych eval, sleep study (if indicated), etc, but you don't get approved for surgery (aka get a surgery date) until all of that is submitted and dropping out of the Morbidly Obese category is sure one way they will use to deny you, but again every insurance company is different and if the OP thinks that hers has approved her for surgery then cest la vie.

Nothing wrong with shrinking your liver ahead of time. It's doubtful that you would need another ultrasound on the liver before surgery so you are unlikely to lose the co-morbitity (if you need it for insurance). In addition to doing the high protein low carb diet to shrink your liver through ketosis, you can also try losing 20 pounds using a traditional diet (for some reason the liver is the first thing to shed fat when you lose weight).

I think most folks looking at this surgery are going to have some level of enlarged liver. It's not clear when your surgery is or what type of surgery, but if you want to shrink your liver either go on a high protein low carb diet (it doesn't have to be liquid, but protein shakes are an easy low carb high protein meal) a couple weeks before surgery. Alternatively if you have more time losing 20 pounds no matter how you lose it will also generally shrink you liver (for whatever reason the liver is one of the first places we shed fat from when we lose weight).

I'm confused if the last time you weighted yourself was March 27th, how do you know you haven't lost any weight? That said there are lots of reasons people hit stalls, most notably when you transition from liquids to puree/soft foods. As long as you keep doing what you are supposed to be doing you usually break through the stall within a week or so.

Get mine Fromm myprotein dot com. They always have coupons and are generally much cheaper than anywhere else. Plus they come in tons of flavors.

It gets a little easier but no doubt it is tough. The only advice I can give is that if you need to cheat for your sanity, cheat with something that has protein (eggs, chicken, steak) rather than bread or sugar. The point of this low cal high protein diet is to shrink your liver through Ketosis. At least high protein (low carb) cheat keeps you on that path.

I think you are pretty safe to answer these questions honestly. At the end of the day Surgeons want to perform the surgery and they don't generally deny you for those things (honestly if you were paying cash they probably wouldn't even ask). Besides that you will need to get a psychiatric clearance (presumably from your current doctor). I wouldn't read too much into these questions, and if they are they also asking questions about your current diet my guess this is more for the nutrition tracking purposes than it is for the actual surgeon. Since many insurance companies require 3-6 months of nutrition classes they ask these questions so that your first meeting with the surgeon can count as class 1. That said don't share something you aren't comfortable sharing.

I'm not sure if Creekimp13's recipe is different than mine, but it's basically pork tenderloin in bottom of the crock pot pour BBQ sauce on top and cook on low for 5-6 hours then shed in the pot (easiest thing in the world). I did a similar experiment with beef (chuck) roast (seared off in a pan first) in the crock pot with trader joes Korean BBQ sauce and it was amazing.

Had that feeling the first couple soft food meals. I cut back the size and worked back up to the 1/2 cup volume for meals in about a week.

No problemo.